National Association of State Retirement Administrators

Nevada

The Nevada Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) was created by the state legislature to provide retirement, health care, and survivor benefits to Nevada public employees. Nevada PERS was created in 1947 with the passage of the Nevada Retirement Act. The system administers two plans; one for employees of the state, University system, public schools, and most political subdivisions, and another for police officers and firefighters.

 

Authorizing Statutes

Chapter 286 of the Nevada Revised Statutes (also known as the Public Employees' Retirement Act) establishes the Public Employees' Retirement System. According to NRS 286.015 (Declaration of state policy; purpose of chapter)

1. It is the policy of this State to provide, through the Public Employees’ Retirement System: (a) A reasonable base income to qualified employees who have been employed by a public employer and whose earning capacity has been removed or has been substantially reduced by age or disability. (b) An orderly method of promoting and maintaining a high level of service to the public through an equitable separation procedure, which is available to employees at retirement or upon becoming disabled. (c) A system which will make government employment attractive to qualified employees in various categories of service and which will encourage these employees to remain in government service for such periods of time as to give the public employer full benefit of the training and experience gained by these employees while employed by public employers.

NRS 286.130 describes the qualifications of the Board:

Three members of the Board must be persons who:

(a) Have had at least 10 years of service as employees of the State of Nevada or its political subdivisions; (b) Are not elected officers of the State of Nevada or its political subdivisions; (c) Are active members of the System; and (d) Are appointed from written nominations submitted by the following groups: (1) Employees of the State and the Nevada System of Higher Education; (2) The academic staff of school districts; (3) Employees of cities, excluding Carson City; (4) Employees of counties, including Carson City and excluding employees of county hospitals; (5) Employees of county hospitals, public utilities, power districts, sanitation districts, classified school employees and employees of other districts as determined by the Board; and (6) Employees whose current positions entitle them to participate in the Police and Firefighters’ Retirement Fund.

Two members of the Board must be persons who:

(a) Have had at least 10 years of service as employees of the State of Nevada or its political subdivisions; (b) Are not elected officers of the State of Nevada or its political subdivisions; (c) Are active members of the System; and (d) Are appointed from written nominations submitted by the following groups: (1) Administrators of school districts or members of boards of trustees of school districts; and (2) Members of boards of county commissioners or the governing bodies of cities or administrators of counties or cities.

One member of the Board must be a person who:

(a) Is an employee of the State of Nevada or its political subdivisions with at least 10 years of service; (b) Is serving in a position at least equivalent to the manager of a department or division; (c) Is not an elected officer of the State of Nevada or its political subdivisions; and (d) Is an active member of the System;

One member of the board must be a person who:

(a) Has had at least 10 years of service as an employee of the State of Nevada or its political subdivisions; (b) Is not an elected officer of the State of Nevada or its political subdivisions; and (c) Is receiving an allowance for service or disability retirement pursuant to this chapter. 5. A member of the Board shall serve for 4 years, so long as the member has the qualifications required by this section, and until the member’s successor is appointed and takes office. A member of the Board who no longer has the qualifications specified in the subsection under which the member was appointed may serve the remainder of the member’s term if the member loses those qualifications in the final 24 months of the member’s term.

Board Composition

Plan

Board Size

Appointed

Elected

Plan Members

Ex Officio

Nevada Public Employees Retirement System

7

7

0

7

0

Contributions

Per the U.S. Census, in FY 2021, employer contributions (including those derived from mandatory pretax employee salary reductions) to Nevada state and local government pension plans were 9.04 percent of all state and local government direct general spending.

Constitutional Protections

No explicit constitutional protection for public pension benefits, but courts provide protection based on the impairment of contract principles. The Nevada courts distinguish between "limited" and "absolute" vesting rights. When all retirement conditions are satisfied, retirement benefits are deemed to ripen into a full contractual obligation. Nicholas v. State, 992 P.2d 262 (Nev. 2000)(recognizing that pension rights become absolutely vested upon retirement at which time pension benefits are constitutionally protected against impairment); Pub. Emps.' Ret. Bd. v. Washoe County., 96 Nev. 718, 615 P.2d 972, 974 (Nev. 1980) (concluding that, in "rendering services and making contributions, an employee acquires a limited vested right to pension benefits"). (NV CONST., Article 1, §15) Source: Robert Klausner, Esq., State Constitutional Protections for Public Sector Retirement Benefits
Flag of Nevada (July 25, 1991)

Population (2022) 3,177,772

Nevada public pension statistics, per U.S. Census Bureau as of FY 2022 ($ in 000s)

Assets

$55,041,595

Active Members

109,879

Annuitants

80,703

Benefits Paid

$3,166,654

Employee Contributions

$83,784

Employer Contributions

$1,159,024

Systems

4

More Data

Other Resources